Reference: Manasseh (1)
Fausets
("causing to forget".) Joseph's firstborn by Asenath, whose birth "made him forget all his toil and all (the sorrow he endured through) his father's house" (Ge 41:51). Jacob adopted them as his own, though "horn in Egypt" and by an alien to Israel (Ge 48:5,9); "as Reuben and Simeon they shall be mine," i.e. patriarchal heads of tribes, as Jacob's immediate sons were; Manasseh and Ephraim gave their names to separate tribes. Joseph had the portion of the firstborn by having the double portion, i.e. two tribal divisions assigned to his sons (1Ch 5:1-2; compare De 21:17). When Joseph took Ephraim in his right toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left toward Israel's right hand, Israel put his right upon Ephraim the younger, and his left upon Manasseh wittingly, notwithstanding Joseph's remonstrance. Their name should be a formula of blessing, "God make thee as Ephraim and Manasseh," and they should "grow as fish do increase" (a natural image near the fish abounding Nile): Ge 48:16,20.
The term "thousands" is especially applied to Manasseh (De 33:17; Jg 6:15 margin.) Manasseh's son by an Aramitess (Syrian) concubine, Machir, had children "borne upon Joseph's knees" (Ge 50:23), i.e. adopted as his from their birth. Manasseh, Ephraim, and Benjamin, the three sprung from Rachel, marched W. of the tabernacle. Moses in his last blessing (De 33:13-17) gives Joseph (i.e. Ephraim and Manasseh) the "precious things of the earth" by "the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush, "in contrast to Joseph's past "separation from his brethren," his horns like the two of the wild bull (not "unicorn"), namely, "the ten thousands of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh shall push," etc. At Sinai Manasseh numbered 32,200 (Nu 1:10,35; 2:20-21; 7:54-59), Ephraim 40,500. But 40 years later, at Jordan, Manasseh 52,700, Ephraim 32,590 (Nu 26:34-37).
Manasseh here resumes his place as firstborn (his having two portions of Canaan, one on each side of Jordan, being also a kind of privilege of the firstborn), probably as having been foremost in the conquest of Gilead, the most impregnable portion of Palestine, as Lejah (asylum) the modern name of Argob implies; their inheritance was northern Gilead, Argob, and Bashan (Nu 32:39-42; De 3:4,13-15; Jos 17:1). Gideon, the greatest of the judges, and one whose son all but established hereditary monarchy in their line, and Jephthah, were samples of their warriors. They advanced from Bashan northwards to the base of Mount Hermon (1Ch 5:23). When David was crowned at Hebron western Manasseh sent 18,000, eastern Manasseh with Gad and Reuben 120,000 armed men (1Ch 12:31,37). Moreover, a prince of each of the two sections of Manasseh stands on a level with the princes of entire tribes (1Ch 27:20-21).
But because of apostasy from the God of their fathers to the gods of the people whom He destroyed before them, Manasseh was first cut short by the Syrian Hazael (2Ki 10:32), then God stirred up the spirit of Pul and of Tiglath Pileser of Assyria to carry the eastern half of Manasseh, Reuben, and Gad captives to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan (1Ch 5:25-26). Manasseh failed to occupy all the territory assigned to them. "Geshur and Aram (Syria) took the 23 towns of Jair and the 37 of Kenath and her daughters, 60 in all, from them"; so 1Ch 2:23 ought to be translated In Jg 10:4 we find Jair the judge in possession of 30 of them, recovered from the enemy. Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh successfully warred with and dispossessed the Hagarites with Jetar, Nephish, and Nodab (1Ch 5:18-22). The western half of Manasseh failed for long to dispossess completely the Canaanites (Jg 1:27; Jos 17:11-12).
On their complaining that but one portion had been allotted to them, and that the Canaanite chariots prevented their occupying the Esdraelon and Jordan plains, Joshua advised them to go into the wooded mountain, probably Carmel. Accordingly their towns Taanach, Megiddo, Ibleam, and Endor are in the region of Carmel, within the allotments of other tribes. Bethshean was in the hollow of the Ghor or Jordan valley, the connecting point between the eastern and the western Manasseh. Kerr shows that the land of Manasseh, instead of crossing the country from E. to W., occupied only half that space, and lay along the sea to the W., bounded on the E. by the range of Mount Carmel.
Jos 17:7 defines its coast. En Tappuah is Atuf. The town was given to Ephraim, the land N. of it was Manasseh's. Conder thinks that Asher was separated from Manasseh by Zebulun, and that the Asher in Jos 17:10 is Asherham-Michmethah (now Es Sireh) at the N.W. corner of Ephraim. Issachar lay to the E. of Ephraim and Manasseh, along the entire line of the Jordan, from the sea of Chinneroth to the wady Kelt not far from the Salt Sea: thus it was a triangle, its apex at Jericho, its base N. of the Jezreel plain (Palestine Exploration Quarterly Statement, January, 1877, p. 41-50). In the declension of the nation Isaiah (Isa 9:20-21) foretells that the two sons of Joseph, once so intimately united, should be rent into factions thirsting for one another's blood, "they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm, Manasseh Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, and they together against Judah."
After the fall of the ten tribes, Psalm 80 expresses Judah's prayer of sympathy for her sister: "give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock. ... Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh (advancing at their head, as formerly in the pillar of cloud in the wilderness) ... come and save us." The book of Numbers (Nu 2:17-24) represents these three kindred tribes together marching after the ark; so in the Psalms. Many out of Manasseh were among the penitents coming southwards to Judah, and joining in the spiritual revivals under Asa (2Ch 15:9), Hezekiah (2Ch 30:1,10-11,18; 31:1), and Josiah (2Ch 34:6-9).
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And Joseph called the name of the first-born Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house.
And now, thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to thee in the land of Egypt, before I came to thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, to me, and I will bless them.
The angel who hath redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac: and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation: the children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were brought up upon Joseph's knees.
Of the children of Joseph: of Ephraim; Elishama the son of Ammihud; of Manasseh; Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.
Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred.
Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall move forward with the camp of the Levites, in the midst of the camp: as they encamp, so shall they move forward, every man in his place by their standards. On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim, according to their armies: and the captain of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud. read more. And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty thousand and five hundred. And by him shall be the tribe of Manasseh: and the captain of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.
And by him shall be the tribe of Manasseh: and the captain of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred.
And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred. Then the tribe of Benjamin: and the captain of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni. read more. And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred. All that were numbered of the camp of Ephraim, were a hundred thousand and eight thousand and a hundred, throughout their armies: and they shall go forward in the third rank.
On the eighth day offered Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, prince of the children of Manasseh: His offering was one silver charger of the weight of a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat-offering: read more. One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense: One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt-offering: One kid of the goats for a sin-offering: And for a sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.
These are the families of Manasseh, and those that were numbered of them, fifty and two thousand and seven hundred. These are the sons of Ephraim after their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthalhites: of Becher, the family of the Bachrites: of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites. read more. And these are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites. These are the families of the sons of Ephraim according to those that were numbered of them, thirty and two thousand and five hundred. These are the sons of Joseph after their families.
And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorite who was in it. And Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt in it. read more. And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its small towns, and called them Havoth-jair. And Nobah went and took Kenath, and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.
And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants. Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob, to the borders of Geshuri, and Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashan-havoth-jair, to this day. read more. And I gave Gilead to Machir.
But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the first-born, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the first-born is his.
And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon, read more. And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, And for the precious things of the earth and fullness of it, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush; let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren. His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.
His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.
There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh; for he was the first-born of Joseph; to wit, for Machir the first-born of Manasseh, the father of Gilead: because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan.
And the border of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethah, that lieth before Shechem; and the border went along on the right hand to the inhabitants of En-tappuah.
Southward it was Ephraim's, and northward it was Manasseh's, and the sea is his border; and they met together in Asher on the north, and in Issachar on the east. And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher Beth-shean and its towns, and Ibleam and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Tanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, even three countries. read more. Yet the children of Manasseh could not expel the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.
Neither did Manasseh expel the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its towns, nor Tanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.
And he said to him, O my Lord, by what means shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.
And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havoth-jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead.
In those days the LORD began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the borders of Israel;
And he took Geshur, and Aram, with the towns of Jair, from them, with Kenath and its towns, even sixty cities. All these belonged to the sons of Machir, the father of Gilead.
Now the sons of Reuben the first-born of Israel, (for he was the first-born; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birth-right was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birth-right. For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birth-right was Joseph's:)
The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skillful in war, were four and forty thousand seven hundred and sixty, that went out to the war. And they made war with the Hagarites, with Jetur, and Nephish, and Nodab. read more. And they were helped against them, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in the battle, and he was entreated by them; because they put their trust in him. And they took away their cattle; of their camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of men a hundred thousand. For there fell down many slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their steads until the captivity. And the children of the half tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land: they increased from Bashan to Baal-hermon and Senir, and to mount Hermon.
And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went astray after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them. And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, to this day.
And of the half tribe of Manasseh eighteen thousand, who were expressed by name, to come and make David king.
And on the other side of Jordan, of the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and of the half tribe of Manasseh, with all manner of instruments of war for the battle, a hundred and twenty thousand.
Of the children of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Azaziah: of the half tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah: Of the half tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo the son of Zechariah: of Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner:
And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they resorted to him out of Israel in multitudes, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.
And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover to the LORD God of Israel.
So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even to Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them. Nevertheless, divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.
For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good LORD pardon every one,
Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and broke the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned every man to his possession into their own cities.
And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even to Naphtali, with their mattocks around. And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. read more. Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God. And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had collected from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem.
And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.